The Beaches

We spent two days at the beaches in California, and they were incredible! Actually, I should say two afternoons because after about 4 hours, we were all exhausted! We hit Laguna Beach the first day and had so much fun, but there was seaweed all over! The second day we went to Careno del Mar which was a much nicer beach and we could put up the sunshade, but the waves were much bigger and stronger!

Andy played in the water most of the time. Here, he and my brother Rusty are trying to catch a wave to body surf! Oh, how much fun those waves are!!! Looking back through my pictures to choose these has taken me back to the ocean - the sound of the waves crashing against the ground, the volleyball bouncing back and forth, that happy children's voices and the fresh air all around. It was awesome!!! The first day we rented two boogie boards and all shared them. Andy is trying so hard to catch this wave. What an unreal feeling it is to be riding along the top of the wave! It is so fun until you crash on the sand and scrape up your knees over and over again...

JJ riding the waves! It is just so beautiful! Thank you sooooo much Grandma, Aunt Jamie and Aunt Nancy for watching our kiddos on the beach, so we could play so much in the water!!! Our beach time wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Andy and I getting to go out so far to the breaking waves!

Even Ben had a chance to ride the waves! However, twice was enough for him! This wave turned out to be a little bit bigger than we'd anticipated as Bronwyn gets swept away... :) She and Ben had a blast 'riding' the waves with their feet!

Annie and her cousin Ty enjoyed the biggest sandbox either kiddo had ever seen! They played so great together! However, I have no idea what they played because I was busy in the water! Mom? Nancy? Hayley?

I think everyone would agree that Emily's favorite part of the ocean/beach was chasing the birds. She would get just so close and the bird would hope away five feet. Then Em would work so hard to get close again - only to have the bird hop away another few feet. This kept her entertained for hours!

Nothing like a beautiful background. It I hadn't taken this picture, I wouldn't have believed the perfection of the waves!

Another beautiful scene! Roman and Ben finally found something fun to do together!

Our second day at Carona del Mar, Grandpa bought two boogie boards since there was no where to rent them. However, on the first rides (because of the strong waves and the cheaply made boards, unlike the previously rented ones), both boards broke. Poor JJ was the recipient of a nasty gash on his forehead. He spent the rest of the day in his 'family' shirt reading under the canopy with a pounding headache.

The beach was a blast! I think we all agreed we'd like to do this again. The cousins had so much fun playing with one another, and the big kids had a blast too!!!